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                    <h3>S&amp;P 500 Climbs to Record as Emerging Markets Gain, Dollar Drops</h3>
                    <p class="article-date">2014-03-21</p>
                    <p class="article-author">By Joseph Ciolli and Will Hadfield (Bloomberg)</p>
                    <p>U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard &amp; Poor&rsquo;s 500 Index touching a record, amid optimism in the strength of the world&rsquo;s largest economy. Emerging-market equities rose, led by the biggest gain in five weeks for Hong Kong-listed Chinese shares, and the dollar weakened.  The S&amp;P 500 rose 0.5 percent to 1,880.60 at 11:52 a.m. in New York, after reaching an all-time intraday high. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.6 percent as Hong Kong&rsquo;s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 2.4 percent after entering a bear market yesterday. Moscow&rsquo;s Micex Index lost 1 percent. The dollar weakened 0.1 percent against the euro. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 2.76 percent. Gold and copper advanced with oil.  U.S. equities have advanced 2 percent this week as better- than-estimated economic data has overshadowed concern that benchmark interest rates may rise in the middle of next year. The European Union extended the list of prominent Russians subject to sanctions for their part in the annexation of Crimea, while Fitch Ratings Ltd. revised its outlook for the country&rsquo;s debt to negative.  &ldquo;We saw a group of reports on Thursday that were pretty strong overall, and those signs of economic strength have carried over into today,&rdquo; Joe Bell, senior equity analyst at Cincinnati-based Schaeffer&rsquo;s Investment Research Inc., said in a phone interview. &ldquo;Perhaps there&rsquo;s some pent-up demand that is going to translate into improvement with the economic reports coming next week.&rdquo;  The S&amp;P 500 rose 0.6 percent yesterday as reports on leading indicators and regional manufacturing topped forecasts. Reports on housing, gross domestic product and durable goods are among the economic data due next week. The index lost 0.6 percent and Treasury yields jumped the previous day after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank&rsquo;s stimulus program could end this fall and the rates could rise about six months later.</p>
                    <p>Fed Stimulus</p>
                    <p>Three rounds of Fed stimulus and low interest rates have helped boost the equity gauge as much as 178 percent from a 12- year low as U.S. stocks enter the sixth year of a bull market. Policy makers met this week as economic reports indicated the economy is pulling out of a slowdown linked to unusually harsh winter weather.  &ldquo;The consensus believes that the stock market will continue moving higher as long as the economy improves,&rdquo; Matt Maley, an equity strategist with Miller Tabak &amp; Co., said in a phone interview from Boston. &ldquo;But whether that&rsquo;s enough to keep it rallying is another thing entirely.&rdquo;  Stock trading may be subject to unexpected swings today because of a quarterly event known as quadruple witching, when futures and options contracts on indexes and individual stocks expire.</p>
                    <p>Symantec, Nike</p>
                    <p>Media General Inc. rallied 4.4 percent after agreeing to buy LIN Media LLC in a deal valued at about $1.6 billion. Symantec Corp. slumped 13 percent after the maker of anti-virus software fired its chief executive officer. Nike Inc. slid 3.1 percent after the world&rsquo;s largest sporting-goods manufacturer forecast that sales will climb at a slower pace than analysts had predicted.  Developing-market equities headed for a weekly gain of 0.9 percent, paring their losses this year to 5.6 percent. The benchmark trades at a price-to-book ratio of 1.4, its cheapest level versus the MSCI World Index since 2004.  Chinese shares rallied amid speculation the government is loosening funding restrictions for property developers and banks to support growth. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.7 percent, its biggest gain in four months.</p>
                    <p>European Equities</p>
                    <p>The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.3 percent percent. The gauge is poised for its biggest weekly advance in five weeks.  The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which monitors the U.S. currency against its 10 major counterparts, retreated 0.2 percent. The index is headed for its biggest weekly gain in two months amid bets the Fed is moving toward raising interest rates.  The Australian dollar rose against all of its 16 major peers on speculation the country&rsquo;s growth will defy a slowdown in China. It strengthened 0.6 percent to 90.89 U.S. cents today.  Gold advanced for the first time in five days, rising 0.5 percent to $1,336.80 an ounce. Bullion slumped this week after reaching a six-month high on March 17 amid turmoil over Ukraine.  Oil rose 1.1 percent to $99.97 a barrel. Futures are down 1.4 percent this week.  Copper gained 0.9 percent, heading for its first weekly increase since Feb. 14. The metal has dropped this month on concern demand from top consumer China is poised to slow and as the Fed continued to trim its bond-buying program and signal higher interest rates.</p>
                    <p>For Related News and Information: Developed Markets View: DMMV  Emerging Markets View: EMMV  Stock Market Map: IMAP G  World Equity Markets: WEI  World Bond Markets: WB  World Currency Ranker: WCRS 1  Commodity Ranked Returns: CRR1  CDS Sector Graph: GCDS </p>
                    <p>--With assistance from Claudia Carpenter, Zahra Hankir and Anchalee Worrachate in London and Nick Gentle in Hong Kong. </p>
                    <p>To contact the reporters on this story: Joseph Ciolli in New York at +1-212-617-3928 or jciolli@bloomberg.net; Will Hadfield in London at +44-20-7073-3583 or whadfield@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at +44-20-3525-7032 or cvannucci1@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson at +1-212-617-0506 or lthomasson@bloomberg.net Jeff Sutherland, Stuart Wallace</p>
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                        <p class="news-extract">
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